POBB February 19, 2020 Part Two

Pick of the Brown Bag

February 19, 2020

Part Two

by

Ray Tate

In part two of the POBB, I examine the merits of The Amazing Mary Jane, Captain Marvel, Fantastic Four and Ghost Spider.  I posted the Twitter version of the POBB days ago: #PickoftheBrownBag.  So if you need a decision right now and haven't time to read the entirety of the blog, you know where to go.

A Big Bad that you likely never heard of named Vox Supreme captured Captain Marvel.  He stuck her in a bugged and controllable nano-suit.  He then threatened the lives of innocent people should Carol not do his bidding.  These demands consist of killing the Avengers and bringing their bodies to him.

Carol came up with an alternate scheme.  Fight the Avengers, yes.  Defeat them, yes, but hide them in a living, pocket dimension of her acquaintance and give Vox Supreme conveniently cloned bodies, already dead.

This issue, Carol faces the She-Hulk.  She fought the She-Hulk before, but only as a friend.  Because of the mask, She-Hulk thinks of Carol as an enemy.  So, only holding back a little.  

The way in which Carol defeats the She-Hulk is pretty clever, and the nod to A-Force is welcome.  

I had misgivings about the start of this story, and I'm still unimpressed by Vox Supreme who looks like a ragged cross between a Predator, Venom and a Mandalorian.  This however is a pre-existing character.  So not entirely Kelly Thompson's fault.  In any case, the story shaped up by the second chapter and steamed along without letting up.  Part of the successful energy in Captain Marvel can be credited to former Batman and Loki artist Lee Garbett as well as colorist Tamra Bonvillain.

Thompson though should be given major props for making a story out what seems to be leftovers: Singularity from Thompson's own defunct A-Force, cloned Avengers and some goof from a low-rent Inhumans mini-series.  I had to look up that last one.

Dan Slott concludes the Fantastic Four story involving the planet Spyre.  He furthermore sets up the pieces for the next tale which involves Wyatt Wingfoot and the Mole Man.

On the planet Spyre, Avengers/Thunderbolts knock-offs greeted the FF as foretold enemies.  Things smoothed out, but the FF learned a terrible secret.  That knowledge catalyzed Ben Grimm to lead a pack of so-called monsters against the pretty boy superheroes of the world.  For the most part this was all Outer Limits fun and games until an even more awful, personal revelation occurred.  That divulgence resulted in catastrophic damage.

Ben may have ripped apart their culture.  That still doesn't absolve the Overseer whose crimes against science and the FF instill in Reed a rare physical rage.  

That's the Overseer in the Lex Luthor armor.  Sue kind of gets off on Reed getting medieval, which is proper for her persona and wrong ethically.  So, it's a nice demonstration of Sue just being a fallible human but without making her a liability to the team.

Sue's a little kinky.  Perfect expression.  Speaking of relationships, Spyre pairs up people based on some sort of funky science.  This was largely an excuse to give Johnny a girlfriend in Skye.

Lovely colors on the wings.  Skye joins the FF on their journey back home.  Thus, keeping the tradition of Franke Raye and Crystal alive.  Fantastic Four is just good solid adventure writing from Dan Slott and artwork from Sean Izaakse.  As with Captain Marvel, I didn't really care for the opener, but as each chapter dropped the story became respectable.

The reliable Ghost Spider doesn't disappoint.  Last issue, writer Seanan McGuire revealed that the Johnny and Sue Storm of Ghost Spider's parallel earth diverged from our more familiar sibs.  They never became astronauts, nor were they bombarded by cosmic rays.  Instead, they became influencers, until one day they disappeared.

What Gwen said.  The Storms return without explanation for their four year absence, and they seem to be the real thing.

  Ghost Spider though curious turns her attention to crime.

Before Gwen can demonstrate her arachnid abilities.  Somebody distracts the gunmen with flame.  Hmmmn.  Gwen's no mean detective, but it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to add two and two.

One thing's for certain, the Maker had nothing to do with it.  He's as surprised at the Storms' return as everybody else.  Wait? What's Reed Richards' evil doppelgänger doing in Ghost Spider?

McGuire gives readers and Ghost Spider a puzzle to solve or a knot to untangle each issue.  In addition, McGuire weaves a consistent web similar to the ongoing day-to-day comic strip.  

Gwen is going to school on Earth Marvel Proper, only this time she skips class because she overslept for reasons involving her father.  Gwen once empowered by the bite of a spider, now derives her abilities from a suit knit together by symbiotic spider-like creatures.  As such, she must feed them, something starchy.  As well we get Ig Guara illustration and Ian Herring colors.  So there's always something interesting going on in Ghost Spider, and Gwen looks great doing whatever that something may be.

Amazing Mary Jane concludes with the redemption of Quentin Beck alias Mysterio.  Yeah, I know he can be battling Spider-Man somewhere, some title soon.  I mean, hell, I thought Mysterio pined for the fjords.  I guess if Norman Osborn can come back.  So can Mysterio.  

For this moment, Beck accomplished what he set out to do.  Make a movie of his life with Mary Jane Watson portraying his henchwench/ love interest.

Incidentally, the relationship is just an act.  One of the best things about the story.  Mysterio doesn't get all scuzzy like Norman Osborn.  He respects Mary Jane as a fellow artist.  

Beck made this film on the up and up, mostly.  Beck created the illusion of Cage McKnight while he sent the real auteur on a penguin expedition.  With Mary Jane's help, he secured all the funding.  He attracted a big name actor.  He also offered some fellow felons some honest coin.

You really could not help but to root for Mysterio.  

There's just one fly in the ointment.  Some of Mysterio's fellow rogues aren't too keen on their portrayals.  They spooked the Spider-Man star, and after a particularly devastating humiliation, they've taken names, including Mary Jane's.

Mary Jane put her heart and soul in the movie to gain a good part and to keep Mysterio on the road to redemption.  That means, she's got a lot of fans in her corner.

The big dukeroo illustrated by Red Sonja's Carlos Gomez makes excellent use of Mysterio's powers and B to C List Spider-Man foes.  Gomez also contributes a cool double page spread of practical special effects that MJ uses in her defense that would have otherwise appeared as culled together random images if not for his expertise.  

POBB February 19, 2020 Part One

Pick of the Brown Bag

February 19, 2020
Part One

by

Ray Tate

The huge yield of comic books overwhelmed me.  This short  Pick of the Brown Bag is a sampling of the best and the worst.  For the quick and dirty opinions about the rest.  Check out Twitter: #PickoftheBrownBag.  Today I'm looking at Aquaman, the Old Guard, The Plunge and Superman Smashes the Klan.  

The Old Guard refers to the immortal stars of the book: Andy, Booker, Joe, Nicky and Nile, the youngest.  They're all warriors of some sort who simply cannot die.

This issue introduces two more immortals to the mix.  Andy's former lover Noriko and James, whose relationship to the rest writer/co-creator Greg Rucka leaves a mystery at the cliffhanger.  

The story begins in the past with Andy and Noriko being forever young, immortal and very much in love.  The sea however takes Noriko and threatens Andy and her compadres.

Angel first brokered the idea of the sea being an anathema to immortals.  You drown over and over again.  Co-creator/artist Leandro Fernandez however tops Angel.  He immerses the reader in the hazards of sailing with exciting artwork that contrasts the early idyll.

Fernandez's skill isn't limited to action.  He expresses the present day Andy's shock and the love she feels for Noriko simultaneously.  Noriko you see is alive.

Overall, this is an extraordinary issue of The Old Guard even if it's based upon a misunderstanding between lovers.  Fortunately, new, lethal players with familiar symbolism promise to generate a more substantial nemesis.  

Plunge from author Joe Hill shares a lot in common with other horror sea chanties such as The Meg and the unfathomably underrated Deep Rising.  

A team with special skill sets forms to investigate a mystery. In this case, the resurrection of a lost ship, amusingly named after Weird Tales alum August Derleth.

The team consists of a cool biology expert who's a touch on the insane side.

Her trusty Native American companion.

A snarky salvage team...

...led by an eccentric Captain, and 

Jerry Mathers as the Beaver.

Plunge is tedious and derivative.  If it weren't for Stuart Immonen's beautiful artwork, it would be as forgettable as Bill's occupation.  

What is he exactly? A doctor? An assistant?  Uncle? Secret Dad? That said.  Plunge could be made into a workable movie if Hill dropped the unfunny running joke about dildos.

Russell Crowe portrays the Captain.  Paul Giamatti is obviously the Paul Reiser corporate sleaze from Aliens.  Freema Agyeman can essay the good doctor.

The snarky crew dudes played by any upcoming young actors, with gender switches a potential.  

No.  Plunge is for Stuart Immonen fans only, and they may want to wait for the trade so they don't feel the obligation to read the words.  

Aquaman, the one where Mera has a baby is actually pregnant with quality.  

Mera knocked herself out after she figuratively shoved Black Manta's giant robot, provided by Lex Luthor, up Manta's ass.  The story, its gist we can kind of predict, becomes interesting right at the beginning.

Aquaman immediately, instinctively seeks out human medical care.  That's because Kelly Sue DeConnick treats Aquaman like a human.  A weird human, but human none the less.  He grew up in Amnesty Bay.  He attended high school and bonded with human friends.  He's human.  Entrusting Mera, a watery alien, to human doctors is of course a mistake.  So, the whole kit and caboodle go back to Atlantis where DeConnick demonstrates a chink in the armor of Utopia. 

The overcrowding in an Atlantean hospital sort of makes sense given that the continent is finite.  I'll assume that every hospital in Atlantis is like this.  It's also a pertinent reflection of one of the problems associated with hospitalization in the United States.

DeConnick and artist Robson Rocha introduce their very own Shay Veritas, and she provides a lot of flint for the rest of the cast to spark against.  Also on hand to pay their respects, Ocean Master and Endora from the Widowhood.

As you can see DeConnick plays Endora for laughs, but it's not all a ha-ha-fest.  DeConnick also draws upon the inherent racism from the so-called pure Atlanteans toward the mutated, like Dolphin.  Only one of the germs setting up future storylines.  Of course, yes, there's a birth notice being sent out.  Though complications arise for the Queen, she and Arthur are proud parents by the time the issue ends.  Spoiler alert.  Oops.  Too late.

Welcome to 1946 where families from across America huddled around a radio to listen to the adventures of a "strange visitor from another planet."  This particular episode detailed the Man of Steel dismantling a racist organization thinly disguised as The Clan of the Fiery Cross.  

Superman hurt the Klan.  There can be no doubt about it.  They were so angry that they threatened to sue the station and demanded a Kellogg boycott.  Kellogg didn't care.  The radio station didn't care.  The serial continued.  Kellogg made a steady profit.  The Klan membership took a hit.  The Klan backed way down.  Superman continued the "never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way" for four more years before segueing to television.  That tradition would continue.  Every era sees a Big Red S.  Frequently beating the crap out of racists.

Gene Luen Yang used "The Clan of the Fiery Cross" as the core of his story.  He however did more to enrich the tale and make its anti-xenophobic message even stronger.  

This issue is the best chapter of the three.  Everything comes together. The Superman mythology.  The fight against racism and even Superman's romance with Lois Lane.  This is truly one of the most meticulously plotted Superman tales that I've ever read.

It began with Atom Man--a nod to the Superman serial starring Kirk Alyn and Lyle Talbot as Lex Luthor.  This Atom Man however is not Luthor's sobriquet, but a Nazi Metallo.

The Man of Steel defeats him easily enough until he discovers for the first time Kryptonite.  A save from a black Inspector Henderson is most welcome.  

While this occurs, the Lees, who are facing their own cultural crisis, move into Metropolis.  The Lees will become a remarkable influence on Superman's life, especially young Roberta.

Upon embracing his otherness Superman becomes the familiar alien hero that we all know and cherish.  

Yang's brilliant story ridicules the Klan and shows them as a real threat.  The warm and welcoming art of Gurihiru works equally well when demonstrating the Klan's inhumanity. The story furthermore empowers Roberta and all the lives that become entangled in the machinations of the Fiery Cross.  Superman Smashes the Klan was a truly remarkable achievement.  

POBB February 12, 2020

Pick of the Brown Bag

February 12, 2019

by

Ray Tate

Welcome to the Pick of the Brown Bag.  I'm Ray Tate, and I review the best and worst comic books of the week.  For this post, I look at Doctor Who, Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey, Hawkeye Free Fall, Immortal Hulk, Thor, Vampirella and Red Sonja and Wonder Woman.  The tweets for those who haven't the time to delve deep into the critiques are already live.  Check them out on Twitter: #PickoftheBrownBag

After being horribly burned by Batman: Damned, I never intended to buy another Black Label title again.  

Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti return to the Harley Quinn Universe.  They continue their outstanding comedy series under a Black Label aegis.  'Nuff said.  You got me.

I knew Palmiotti's and Conner's newest Harley Quinn excursion would be good.  Mainly because Conner's drawing it.  So even if Palmiotti's story wasn't up to snuff, unlikely, the art would at the very least be stunning.

What I couldn't expect is how stunning   DC shells out big bucks production values for their Black Label titles.  Harley Quinn is no exception.  

The book is unusually sized, with greater width and height, though not as metric as Damned.  Because of the change in format, you can pick out more detail in Conner's art.

You get a greater breadth of her sense of space, visual narrative flow and an ability to convey the illusion of animation.  The paper stock of the Black Label series furthermore picks up Paul Mounts colors and facilitates even more lushness.

One of the purposes of Black Label is to provide adult entertainment in comic book form.  For some reason, Batman Damned translated that into a cacophony of crotch shots.  Palmiotti and Conner on the other hand don't go much farther than they did in their original Harley Quinn series.  Sure, there's swearing.  It's a shade more over the top violent, but all of the explicitness exhibits a tastefulness woefully absent in Damned.

Conner and Palmiotti's story is a classic crime drama.  Harley took out a loan from a firm of sharks to save her building.  When she's late on the payments, Defeo takes it out in the hide of one of Harley's closest friends.  

The trouble for Defeo is that Harley Quinn when stripped down is the epitome of the hardboiled protagonist with a past.  She uses the experience of that past to seek revenge.

A Princess Bride riff to boot.

When Palmiotti and Conner add layers to Harley Quinn, then you get such things as the dream-enhanced memories with Poison Ivy and guest appearances by former Wonder Woman villain Egg Fu.  Power Girl shows up for no reason at all other than Conner and Palmiotti really like Power Girl.  The way in which Harley exacts her pounds of flesh are less Elmore Leonard and more Bugs Bunny, which is exactly right.

Three of the Birds of Prey show up in the book, and they exemplify Conner's and Palmiotti's ability to make me care about characters.

As anybody who has gleaned anything from this blog knows, I love the original Huntress Helena Wayne.  Conner and Palmiotti give me a new Huntress to think about.  A woman of color like the New 52 model, freaking dangerous like Helena, and she knows Harley Quinn either because of some adventure I didn't read or just because the writers felt like it.  Hence the Harleyverse.

Cassandra Cain in the post-Crisis is a fake Batgirl.  This one appears based on the film version and mute like the original. Again this is a case of where the strength of the art and writing overcomes my immediate instinct to disdain.  

 

I praised Steve Orlando's inventory issues of Wonder Woman before, and if you haven't picked up that brief run, check out the trade paperback.  The artist Aco rendered most of the illustration.  So, it's a combination of a writer plugged into Wonder Woman and highly sophisticated psychedelic illustration.

Now, Steve Orlando and Bronze Age artist Jan Duursema take over Wonder Woman, bringing a new status quo that nevertheless respects traditional Wonder Woman history. 

Thanks to John Byrne, Wonder Woman made Boston her home.  In Orlando's new writing, Wonder Woman returns to Boston only to find a less than friendly welcome.

That's Nora Nunes, hopefully not a relative of Devin. the man who wants to birth Donald Trump's baby.  Nora is Boston PD and sent to determine whether or not Wonder Woman is a catalyst threat to Bean Town.

It's a weird role for a police officer hearkening back to the old west.  I'm not sure it's legal.  You never hear of police officers or even sheriffs running people out of town anymore, but it's certainly interesting. 

In any case, Nora watches Wonder Woman save the people of Boston from the weather inspired no doubt by climate change but erupting from supernatural sources.  

Not to worry.  The story isn't really about these weirdos.  It's about Wonder Woman instilling hope and courage in all.  Seriously.  Orlando just gets Wonder Woman.

Along the way, we glimpse Etta Candy's new lease on life.  Fitting for the long-time cast member.  In the end, Wonder Woman's innate goodness wins out--spoiler ahoy, I guess--and she turns antagonist into friend.  That's always been Wonder Woman's greatest strength.  Her belief that anybody can become a better person.

Orlando however cannot help but bring back his goofy take on classic Wonder Woman villain Paula Von Gunther.  

This is a sore spot with me, but the lion's share of Wonder Woman is utterly enticing, attractive and entertaining.  

This issue of Vampirella and Red Sonja is skippable.  Babs Tarr's cover is the best thing about the book.  

Jordie Bellaire seemed to establish the premise in the first story.  V left Drakulon late in the 1960s.  She established herself on earth for a year and become involved in a real-life mystery.  There she found Sonja.  Together they smashed a Russian military base.  It's scientific head attempted to reverse engineer one of V's people.  

Instead of however going on from there, he went backwards.  First a Hyborean Age Sonja issue.  Then a sixties Vampirella issue.  Okay.  Place holders I thought for the next big story.

Bellaire though now confounds expectations.  For some reason, Bellaire feels the need to summarize the last two focus issues on the individual stars.  

This goes on for eight pages.  We learn that Red Sonja likes to watch V have sex.

A lot.  Because the focus issue suggested that V wasn't engaging in a world record of fornication.  She changed partners at the very least daily.

After this, Vampirella and Red Sonja reunite corporeally in some vaguely medieval village where a dragon threatens villagers..

I still have no idea why this whole thing is happening. It's like a short story with admittedly some mildly entertaining repartee wedging a summary and a setup for another time travel based issue followed by a clump of house ads.  I mean.  I've read worse.  The aforementioned Batman Damned, but this issue of Vampirella and Red Sonja is for completists only.

If you want time travel done right, look no farther than Doctor Who.  The television series and the comic book.

The Doctor took the TARDIS back in time with the hopes of hitting Woodstock.  She found instead her past.  Specifically, "Blink" where the Weeping Angels trapped she and Martha Jones in 1969 without the TARDIS.  Um.  The Doctor was a man back then.

This issue reveals what's been snatching people.  Obviously, I'm not going to tell you what it is.  Not even a hint, but it's just as surprising as the big reveal in the latest episode of the television series.  You just won't see it coming.  The Doctor Who comic book consistently lives up to the standard set by the television series.

What I can tell you is how Jody Houser makes Yaz the VIP companion in the tale.  
  

I don't know how artist Roberta Ingranata landed this gig.  She seemed to impress everybody when she substituted for Rachel Stott, the primo Doctor Who artist.  Ingranata certainly impressed me, but she doesn't yet have a good handle on Mandip Gill who plays Yaz on the series.

I don't know why that is.  She illustrates everybody else with aplomb.  Alternately, maybe Gill never gave permission to use her likeness in a comic book.  It happens.

I can also say that the Doctor reunites with Martha Jones.  

Incidentally, if you have a Jones for Freema Agyeman, she's on the NBC series New Amsterdam.  The Doctor's free with information about the future because she knows when she leaves, Martha won't remember a thing.  That's how time travel works in Doctor Who, and it makes sense.

Though, you cannot help but feel sorry for Martha.  She's in love with the Doctor, you see.  Her Doctor.  At this point in time, they're trapped in 1969.  She's bottled those feelings so the situation doesn't become worse.  That must be infuriating.  The Doctor of our respective present shows up.  She also knows Martha was in love with her.  Martha will likely feel the same emotions over the present time Doctor.  Technically, they could act upon those feelings, but even if they did, that memory will be wiped out along with any memory of the future when history realigns.  Martha cannot catch a break.

Neither can Beta-Ray Bill.  Every time I see Beta-Ray in a comic book somebody's beating him senseless.  I just wish he could score a major victory at some point. Just have him smite a minor Eternal.  Give Beta-Ray Bill something.

At least the fight between Thor and Beta-Ray Bill has a purpose.  Thor's working with Galactus to stop the Black Winter.  Beta-Ray Bill just doesn't like Galactus.  End of story.

This issue of Thor is definitely an art issue over the writing.  Donny Cates provides some interesting insights on Thor's memory, which Doctor Who covered as well, but Thor is primarily Nic Klein energetically battering poor Beta-Ray Bill around through Thor.  The colors by Matt Wilson enhance the seriousness of the battle.

Immortal Hulk delves into the heart and history of former Shadowbase employee Dr. McGowan.  

This trip down memory lane isn't without purpose, and its significance becomes apparent when the Big Guy battles the hypnotizing alien Xemnu.  

The reality of the situation is that way back in the sixties, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced Xemnu as the Hulk in Journey to Mystery.  

He predated the more familiar Hulk by two years.  It's likely though that Lee and Kirby just liked the name and stuck it on another "monster."

Anyhow, things go from bad to worse, and the full range of Xemnu's power reverberates at the end.  It's the only moment in Immortal Hulk where you feel the Hulk is vulnerable and can be beaten.  

In Hawkeye Freefall Matt Rosenberg reestablished Hawkeye.  He gave readers a glimpse of the man, his skill and his self-deprecating wit.  He also connected Hawkeye romantically with the Night Nurse, but more than that, Rosenberg introduced a puzzle.  Hawkeye is one of the few heroes that take on new identities.  One of them is the swordsman Ronin.  Ronin took names at the expense of the Hood.  Everybody and their aunt except Spider-Man thought Ronin was in fact Hawkeye until Hawkeye actually fought Ronin.

In this issue Rosenberg comes clean with the mystery of Ronin, but I'm not breathing a word.  What I can see is that I don't think I've seen this technique before, and it may be the most original use of a plot device.  Certainly, it's imaginative and makes sense.  

I also cannot go into the absolute hilarity of Hawkeye's ploys to divert suspicion.  He's tired of being accused.  This leads to an outrageous scenario with the Night Nurse, and one of the funniest uses of self-censorship.  

So what can I tell you about Hawkeye Freefall?  Something I'd normally keep under my hat.  The Black Widow guest-stars in a substantial cameo.

She figures it all out, and you don't want to miss artist Otto Schmidt's graceful rendition of Natasha Romanov.  Another hero also uses his powers to dope out the secret of Ronin.  This one sets off the cliffhanger.  So, his identity I'll keep secret.